Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-38059

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.4651

Memory Safety
Published
09 July 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.037 89th percentile
Risk Priority 66 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-38059 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 11% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2024-38059 is a Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode driver responsible for the graphical subsystem. It is tracked under CWE-416 (use-after-free) and received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, and low-privileged access requirements that nonetheless result in high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A local attacker who already possesses a low-privileged account on an affected Windows system can exploit the flaw without user interaction to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level, thereby obtaining full control of the host.

Microsoft’s Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38059 supplies the official patch details and remediation guidance. The associated EPSS score has remained modest, with a current value of 0.0896 and a peak of 0.0967.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-416NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20681Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-38248Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-38147Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-38150Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-43574Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-30035Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-21339Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-30089Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-26237Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-21443Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.4651
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.4651
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.3079
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.3880
microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.3880
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.2582
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.1009

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References